Sous l’Océan, the exhibition at the Cité des Sciences Argonaute

The Cité des Sciences is devoting a fine exhibition to submarines, in the argonaute, from October 30, 2018. Here, curious young and old discover a wealth of information about living conditions on board a submarine, as well as life in the abyss.

Have you ever noticed the submarine at the Cité des Sciences? It's theArgonaute, a submarine from the 1950s that docked in the Parc de la Villette in 1989. For the record, the Argonaute was towed from Toulon to Le Havre, then up the Seine to the Saint-Denis canal, where it had to pass through the seven locks and, above all, be installed on land right next to the Cité des Sciences.

L'Argonaute can be visited, and it's quite curious how 40 men have to live for 50 to 80 days at sea without ever seeing the sun.

From October 29, 2018, the visit to L'Argonaute is completed with the Sous l'Océan exhibition, installed in the space adjoining the submarine (a large red container that makes us think of a port).

Suitable for all ages from 6 upwards, the exhibition is full of fascinating experiments.

After an introduction to the history of submarines (with models!), we're invited to go out to sea, and take control of a submarine. The children are won over: by pulling on the joystick, they descend deeper and deeper, and come face to face with strange creatures. If they don't notice everything, adults can easily perceive the drop in temperature and the rise in pressure in the ocean!

At the end of the corridor, a room not to be missed. Here you can listen to the ocean at -2000m, where the whales live. Entering the room is fascinating, as we become aware of a constant white noise when a whale doesn't show up!

Then comes the room of experiments: Archimedes' thrust, the speed of sound in water, driving a submarine - there's plenty for children to enjoy and learn about the oceans.

For adults, theUnder the Ocean exhibition offers the chance to follow maritime traffic in real time on a terminal, and to observe the probes sent every week to the four corners of the globe to record data on the seabed.

The greatest experience of all is the Suffren piloting simulator, the French Navy's last submarine. We're like madmen, touching every button to complete a mission!